Eight remanded in custody as four-week trial fixed for May 18

NINE people have denied conspiring to supply Class A drugs into Pembrokeshire following a major police investigation.

The charges relate to the alleged supply of Class A drugs between February and November 2025. The arrests were made as part of a proactive operation led by Dyfed-Powys Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Team, with warrants executed across Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and areas outside the force area.

All nine defendants appeared before Swansea Crown Court, where they entered not guilty pleas, where a trial is due to begin on May 18, and is expected to last four weeks.

Those charged are:

• Tommy Lee Jones, 32, of Castle Quarry, Monkton
• Ryan Hare, 27, of Heol Cae Pownd, Cefneithin
• Kalum Haines, 22, of Woodland Park, Neyland
• Leon Haines, 25, of Ashdale Lane, Pembroke
• Zack Fecci, 20, of Hawkstone Road, Pembroke Dock
• Ahmed Al-Farraji, 25, of Topaz Street, Cardiff
• Usman Afsar, 40, of Woodborough Street, Bristol
• Adam Noraddin, 25, of Plas Nanthelyg, Cardiff
• Mili Davies-Blewett, 25, of land adjacent to Pen Rhos, Maesybont, Carmarthenshire

Eight of the defendants were remanded in custody. Davies-Blewett was re-granted bail.

They will next appear at Swansea Crown Court on May 18 for the start of the four-week trial.

WEST Wales currently has no asylum seekers being housed in hotels, according to the latest figures published by the Home Office.

Data released up to December 31, 2025 shows that 30,657 people were being accommodated temporarily in hotels across the UK while awaiting decisions on their asylum claims. The figure represents the lowest level recorded for 18 months.

However, the statistics confirm that none of those individuals are being housed in hotels in any of the five counties that make up west Wales. Hotels across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire are all recorded as accommodating zero asylum seekers.

The use of hotels for asylum accommodation became a major national political issue in recent years, with protests taking place outside some sites across the UK.

Labour has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of the current Parliament, which would be 2029, if not sooner.

Plans previously existed to house asylum seekers in west Wales. The Home Office withdrew proposals to accommodate up to 241 people at the Stradey Park Hotel in Carmarthenshire in October 2023 after protests outside the site led to arrests. Dyfed-Powys Police issued an appeal for “calm and co-operation” following what they described as a concerning escalation in behaviour.

The hotel, which had been intended to house families awaiting asylum decisions, subsequently closed, resulting in the loss of 95 jobs, including 50 full-time and 45 part-time roles, and the cancellation of events.

West Wales has also previously hosted asylum accommodation at Penally military training camp near Tenby. The site was used between 2020 and spring 2021 to house between 240 and 250 men, mainly from countries including Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Both the Welsh Government and Pembrokeshire County Council argued the camp was unsuitable, with inspectors describing conditions as run down. The facility was later closed, residents were relocated elsewhere, and the site was returned to the Ministry of Defence.

Nationally, the number of asylum seekers in hotels peaked at 56,018 at the end of September 2023 under the Conservative government. It later fell to 29,561 by the end of June 2024, just before the general election.

The latest figures show numbers at the end of December were 15% lower than the previous quarter, when 36,273 people were recorded as staying in hotel accommodation.

Cover image: Asylum Seekers at Penally MOD Camp in 2020

SCHEME DETAILS MISSING, SAYS PEMBROKESHIRE MS

FARMERS across Wales are facing continued uncertainty after the Welsh Government confirmed that full details of two key elements of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) will not be available when the application window opens on Monday (Mar 2).

Officials have acknowledged that further information on the Optional and Collaborative actions — two of the scheme’s core layers — will be published “in due course”, with applications for many of these measures not expected to open until later this year.

While some actions, including organic maintenance and woodland creation, will proceed independently of SFS participation, significant parts of the scheme remain incomplete as farmers are being asked to begin the application process.

The situation has prompted concern within the sector, with farm businesses warning that uncertainty over the scheme’s full scope makes forward planning difficult at a time when margins are already under pressure.

Commenting on the launch, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Samuel Kurtz MS said: “It is unacceptable that, as the Sustainable Farming Scheme application window opens, two of its core components — Optional and Collaborative — are still not fully designed. After years of consultation, farmers are being asked to commit to a scheme where significant elements remain undefined or delayed until later in the year.

“Farm businesses cannot plan on the basis of ‘further detail in due course’. Decisions about land use, investment and cashflow require clarity from day one. This last-minute uncertainty reflects a clear lack of foresight from the Welsh Labour Government.

“Farmers were promised stability and certainty. Instead, they are being given ambiguity and a rolling timetable. That is not good enough for an industry that needs confidence, not confusion.”

The Sustainable Farming Scheme is intended to replace the EU-era Basic Payment Scheme and form the backbone of agricultural support in Wales, linking public funding to environmental and land management outcomes.

The Welsh Government has been approached for comment.